At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy. Images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft have revealed a dark, heavily cratered world whose brightest area is made of highly reflective salts—not ...
Space Exploration
Dec 15, 2016
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(Phys.org)—NASA's Dawn spacecraft has entered an approach phase in which it will continue to close in on Ceres, a Texas-sized dwarf planet never before visited by a spacecraft. Dawn launched in 2007 and is scheduled to ...
Space Exploration
Dec 30, 2014
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(Phys.org) —Scientists using the Herschel space observatory have made the first definitive detection of water vapor on the largest and roundest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres.
Astronomy
Jan 22, 2014
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(Phys.org)—The asteroid Vesta, which exists between Mars and Jupiter, is one of the largest in the solar system—it is also considered to be a protoplanet because it has a core, mantel and crust. Now, a research team made ...
The surface of the giant asteroid Vesta is weathering in a way that appears to be completely different from any other asteroid yet visited, according to new data recorded by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. This new type of space ...
Space Exploration
Oct 31, 2012
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large ...
Space Exploration
May 3, 2011
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(PhysOrg.com) -- On March 29, 1807, German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers spotted Vesta as a pinprick of light in the sky. Two hundred and four years later, as NASA's Dawn spacecraft prepares to begin orbiting this intriguing ...
Space Exploration
Mar 30, 2011
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NASA's Dawn spacecraft gave scientists extraordinary close-up views of the dwarf planet Ceres, which lies in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. By the time the mission ended in October 2018, the orbiter had ...
Astronomy
Aug 11, 2020
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A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Spain has found evidence that suggests the dwarf planet Ceres is experiencing wrinkling on its surface. In their paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, ...
An international team of researchers has found evidence that suggests the large dome found on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is made of slurry—a mix of salty brine and solid particles. In their paper published in ...
